Choices
by mrsl488
Summary: Klaus feels his control slipping away as he reflects on the choices he's made in the last few weeks.


**This story takes place in the world I created with Broken Promises. It's only slightly AU, but enough that you may be halfway through this and think, "when did that happen on the show?" Broken Promises takes place right after Klaus sleeps with Hayley and Caroline has an awful day with Elena. You might want to read that before continuing on with this. Enjoy!**

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Klaus Mikaelson did not make bad choices, only necessary ones.

So, when had his life become a series of bad choices? He had lived for over a thousand years and was the most powerful creature on the planet. When he did something, it was with considerable forethought and calculation. It was always done in his best interest and usually to benefit his agenda.

That is until he met Caroline Forbes. The blond beauty had snuck into his life without warning. She was the girlfriend of his first born, so to speak, and to him nothing more than collateral damage. That morning when Stefan had walked into his house, _his house, _mind you, and demanded his hybrids leave Mystic Falls, making his point by cutting poor Mindy's head off, Klaus had no choice but to strike back. He couldn't very well kill the doppelganger; her blood was too precious, so he'd called in Tyler and casually asked him to bite Caroline. At the time it was actually quite fun to watch the pup sputter about, so concerned about her dying and what not. Though the thought of Caroline suffering now caused him considerable pain, at the time he'd been quite amused listening to Tyler refuse to bite her, as if he'd had a choice.

He'd been waiting in his unfinished parlor, sipping on his favorite scotch, when Tyler ran in, devastated that he'd bitten Caroline. The fool didn't even have the good sense to be angry with him, no punches were thrown, no verbal sparring, just a variety of "please Klaus, you have to save her". It was actually quite pathetic.

So, according to plan, Klaus made his way over to the Forbes' residence, his end game to have the Sheriff's support in addition to Mayor Lockwood's. Desperation makes for strange bedfellows and seconds later he was invited into the house, leaving Stefan at the top of Mystic Falls Most Wanted List, while he played hero. Pleased with the irony of it all, he was unable to contain a smirk as he passed the Donovan boy on his way in.

Then everything changed.

The sheriff had led him to Caroline's room and as he turned to enter, he was stopped short by the sight of her suffering as she lay dying in her bed. With all the talk of werewolf bites and his ability to cure a vampire of one with his blood, he'd never actually seen a bitten vampire up close. Typically he wouldn't have been moved by the suffering of anyone not family, but here was this baby vampire, beautiful despite the pallor indicating her imminent death, her blue eyes glaring at him while she'd had the sheer audacity to ask if he'd come to kill her.

"On your birthday?" He'd asked, mostly because he was at a loss for words that Caroline had found the strength to call him out on his behavior. In a thousand years not a single person had done that, at least not to his face.

From there, Caroline took control of the conversation to the point that he even found himself sitting on her bed, prattling on and on about the beauty of the world. When she rather resentfully pointed out that she was dying and wouldn't be able to enjoy said beauty, he had even admitted to wanting to die a time or two over the centuries himself and so he understood the choice she was faced with. Moments later she was in his arms, the feeling of completeness overwhelming him as he bit his hand, offering her the antidote that would save her life. Feeling a bit like a cliché, Klaus felt as if his heart was beating for the first time in a millennium.

But, despite all that occurred, he didn't label those events bad choices. Running into the bloody high school to take on the vampire hunter hadn't been a well thought-out choice. He'd wanted to save Caroline and, admittedly Elena due to her valued blood. Plus he liked the thought of teaming up with Stefan to save the day. While that particular day had almost ended tragically for him, he still wouldn't categorize it as a bad choice.

Staking Caroline and biting her out of anger had been a rather poor choice. When one let anger drive your actions, there are consequences. Tyler had been pushing his buttons for months by that point and had started the evening off threatening him while his brother's burnt body lay between them. When Caroline arrived, adding fuel to the fire, he'd snapped and before he knew it, his teeth were in her neck, drinking in the essence of who Caroline is. Fortunately he didn't allow himself to get too carried away, letting her drop to the ground, making his point with Tyler…which was…nothing. He was angry and he let emotions lead him to make a choice that had no purpose other than to stoop to the Tyler's level.

Not only had his actions not been thought out, but he'd backed himself into a corner, having no option but to let Caroline die in order to reinforce with Tyler that he was the Alpha. When even Tyler saw through to his weakness, depositing Caroline at his feet, leaving her to die there with him, he'd realized that for the first time he'd shown his cards to his opponent. To top it all off, Caroline revealed his greatest secret, laying his love for her out on the table as evidence of his long forgotten humanity. As he watched her struggle with her dying breaths, his eyes bright with unshed tears, he'd folded, relinquishing his all-powerful, all-vengeful status to save the life of one girl.

As it was the week for bad choices, he soon found himself ripping the clothes off of Hayley, or the were-slut as Caroline referred to her. It'd been quite some time since he'd eased his sexual frustrations and while the werewolf was nowhere near the top of his one person list of potential partners, she was available and willing to use sexual favors as a way to manipulate him. It'd worked, but not in the way he presumed.

He'd been lounging in his bed, his body momentarily sated, when he heard the screaming from his driveway. Quickly throwing on some clothes, he sped outside to find Caroline atop Hayley, attempting to push the wolf's head through the pavement. While he loved a good cat fight as much as the next person, when Caroline had pointedly looked at his disheveled state, he realized she knew about his indiscretion. Covering his unease with his trademark raised eyebrow, she didn't back down, instead pushed past him while declaring he should get rid of the trash.

While he stood there like a besotted fool, reveling in how truly glorious Caroline was, Hayley had snuck off, relieving him of additional awkwardness. With no other choices, he walked toward the house, preparing himself for the war of words he was sure awaited him.

He entered his studio, noting the irony of Caroline's choice for confrontation and was met with her accusing glare. While it should've resulted in a glimmer of hope for him—why would she be upset if she didn't care—it mattered not as she obviously knew he'd slept with one of the few people she detested and any progress they'd made had left town as surely as if Tyler had taken it with him.

Though confused as how Caroline had found out so quickly about his indiscretion, she didn't hesitate to shove her phone at him, showing him the picture Hayley had clearly taken while he was sleeping and then spitefully texted to her. Chilled to the bone, he realized that the she-wolf had caught him unawares. While he appreciated the fact that she could have just as easily done any number of things while he was resting peacefully, to include removing his head from his body, he knew he'd made yet another bad choice in letting his guard down around the girl.

He was losing control and he could trace the sensation back to Caroline and the humanity she insisted he had locked up inside. The question was whether he felt she was worth this chaotic bubble brewing inside of him.

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**I had intended for this to be a multi-chapter story, but every time I tried to continue, my muse insisted that this was a stand alone. So, here it is, all alone, much like Klaus. What I'd intended as the continuation of this is being developed in the wee hours of the morning when I can't sleep, so hopefully I'll have that up soon. Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought of Klaus' thoughts and his take on the choices he's made. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this!**


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